Unfolding Seat Patents (Class 5/42)
  • Patent number: 9055821
    Abstract: A multifunctional furniture includes a stationary seat frame, a supporting frame, a back frame pivotally connected to the stationary seat frame to move between a sitting mode and a bedding mode, and a leg frame arrangement, which is provided underneath the stationary seat frame, the back frame and the supporting frame. When the back frame is in the sitting mode, the back frame is pivotally extended from the leg frame arrangement to form a predetermined angle of inclination with respect to the stationary seat frame while the leg frame arrangement is arranged to support the stationary seat frame, wherein when the back frame is in the bedding mode, the back frame is pivotally moved to align with the seat frame to form a sleeping area, while the leg frame arrangement is operated to provide extensive support to both the back frame, the stationary seat frame and the supporting frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: FURNITURE OF AMERICA, INC.
    Inventor: Lei Yang
  • Patent number: 8997273
    Abstract: A seating unit that includes a foldable bed includes: a base with an internal cavity; a foldable bed that includes a plurality of sections, wherein in a folded position, the bed sections are folded relative to each other and stored within the base cavity, and in an unfolded position, the bed sections are generally horizontally disposed and in serial alignment with each other, with a first bed section being positioned forwardly of the base; a bed folding mechanism that is attached to the base and the bed sections that controls the movement of the bed between the folded and unfolded positions; a foldable leg attached to the first bed section, and a leg folding mechanism attached to the leg and the first bed section configured to extend the leg downwardly from the first bed section when the bed is in the unfolded position, and to fold the leg under the first bed section when the bed is in the folded position, the leg being pivotable about an axis that is parallel with the forward direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Ultra-Mek, Inc.
    Inventors: Marcus L. Murphy, D. Stephen Hoffman
  • Patent number: 8893323
    Abstract: An articulated sofa bed has a compact profile while folded with the seat cushions residing at a comfortable and ergonomic height and an esthetically pleasing streamlined appearance. The sofa bed takes advantage of a deployment assembly having a support frame with swinging rear arms that, when the bed is folded, occupy a small volume within the back of the sofa. The sofa bed also takes advantage of a leg assembly that is anchored within the thickness of the bed panels so as to stack the foot and middle panels closer to each other. The deployment assembly also cooperates to position the middle and foot panels of the bed in a folded position at a low height above the floor and below the seat cushions, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: American Leather Operations, LLC
    Inventor: Thomas A. Garland
  • Patent number: 8468621
    Abstract: A furniture product includes a folding mechanism that folds into a seat frame. The folding mechanism includes a rear section, a middle section, and a front section, with the rear and middle sections being received in a cavity in the back of the seat frame when the product is in a stowed, seating position. Upon receiving a user input, a position motor deploys the folding mechanism into a sleeping position. Upon achieving the sleeping position, an inflation switch is engaged. An air pump disposed in or near the furniture product is activated in response to engagement of the inflation switch. To return the product to a stowed, seating position, a user input causes the air pump to deflate the mattress and the position motor to fold the folding mechanism into the seat frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2013
    Assignee: L & P Property Management Company
    Inventors: Charles Steers, Niels Mossbeck, Justin Brunnert
  • Patent number: 8465091
    Abstract: An adjustable office chair includes a base device, and a seat device disposed on the base device. The seat device includes a fixed seat section, a rear seat section connected pivotally to and disposed behind the fixed seat section, a front seat section connected pivotally to and disposed in front of the fixed seat, and an invertible seat section connected pivotally to a side of the front seat section distal from the fixed seat section. The invertible seat section is movable to a position directly above the fixed seat section to allow a user to sit thereon. The front and invertible seat sections are movable to align with the fixed seat section to allow the user to sit on the fixed seat section. The rear seat section is movable to an inclined position to allow the user to lie on the seat device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Inventor: Ying-Chieh Su
  • Patent number: 8225439
    Abstract: A convertible sofa-bed which is easy to convert between a sofa configuration and a bed configuration is provided. From a sofa configuration, a buttock-foot member may be pulled outward. Simultaneously, a head rest member and back rest member which are initially at a generally vertical position are traversed to a generally horizontal position. When the buttock-foot member is fully traversed outward (i.e., extended position), the head rest member, back rest member and the buttock-foot member are generally substantially co-planar and generally horizontal. This provides a firm bed surface upon which a person may comfortably sleep. From the bed configuration, head rest member and the back rest member may be buckled to allow the buttock-foot member to be pushed inward. The buttock-foot member is then pushed fully inward (i.e., retracted position) until the head rest member and the back rest member are in the generally vertical position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Inventors: Joseph Cabrera, Louis Rodriguez
  • Patent number: 8011034
    Abstract: A sofa-bed includes: a frame with opposed arms; a backrest operatively connected to the frame; a seat; a subseat hinged to the seat and pivotable relative thereto; an extension-assist mechanism attached to the frame and at least one of the seat and the subseat; and a folding-assist mechanism attached to the frame and at least one of the subseat and seat. The frame, backrest, seat and subseat are configured to move between a folded position, in which the backrest is generally upright, the seat is generally horizontal, and the subseat is generally horizontal and positioned beneath the seat in a first inverted orientation, and an unfolded position, in which the backrest, subseat and seat are generally horizontal, and the subseat is positioned between the backrest and the seat in a second non-inverted orientation. The folding-assist mechanism is configured such that the sofa-bed is biased toward the folded position as the sofa-bed moves from the unfolded position toward a first intermediate position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignee: American Leather
    Inventors: D. Stephen Hoffman, Marcus L. Murphy, Douglas Gasal, Robert Barron Duncan
  • Patent number: 7975171
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method and system for performing file recovery in a computer system coupled to a storage subsystem, wherein a data scrubbing process analyzes said storage subsystem for potential or existing storage errors. The method includes: receiving a report from said data scrubbing process describing said errors, including logical block addresses (LBAs) of storage locations containing errors; interacting with a file system created on logical unit numbers (LUN) provided by said storage subsystem in order to identify file information pertaining to the erroneous LBAs; moving the file pertaining to said erroneous LBAs to a different storage location; updating pointers to said file; in case of an unrecoverable, accessing a backup copy of said file from a backup location; if a predetermined degree of error severity is exceeded, creating an additional copy of said file; and updating the pointers to said file managed by the file system, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Nils Haustein, Ulf Troopens, Rainer Wolafka
  • Patent number: 7549182
    Abstract: A seating unit includes: a frame; a backrest section having a backrest cushion; body, hinge and foot sections sharing a common cushion; and a folding mechanism comprising a series of pivotally interconnected links configured and arranged to move the backrest, body, hinge and foot sections between folded and unfolded positions. In the unfolded position, the backrest, body, hinge and foot sections are generally horizontally disposed and serially aligned, with the backrest cushion and the common cushion facing upwardly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2009
    Assignee: Ultra-Mek, Inc.
    Inventor: Marcus L. Murphy
  • Patent number: 6935924
    Abstract: When a forming a bevel on a lens, the value of the bevel curve is calculated based on the value of the curve of the concave face, a reference axis of the bevel curve is determined to be in the same direction as the curvature of the concave face, a reference position on the peripheral edge of the lens in the first portion having the minimum thickness is determined based on the thickness of the first portion, a correction for the initial reference axis of the bevel curve is obtained, an angle of inclination from the direction of the initial reference axis of the bevel curve is obtained based on the correction and the locus of the bevel is determined based on the value of the bevel curve, the reference position and the angle of inclination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2005
    Assignee: Hoya Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Jinbo, Takashi Daimaru
  • Patent number: 6904628
    Abstract: A sofa-bed has: a frame with opposing arms; a seat; a subseat hinged to the seat; a connecting rod that pivotally interconnects the subseat and the backrest; pairs of center legs and end legs pivotally attached to, respectively, the subseat and seat; and mechanisms for folding and unfolding the center and end legs. The sofa-bed is movable between a folded position and an unfolded position. The mechanisms for the center legs and the end legs are configured to move the legs from a generally horizontal folded position between the seat and subseat when the sofa-bed is in the folded position to a generally upright position beneath, respectively, the subseat and seat when the bed is in the unfolded position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2005
    Assignee: American Leather
    Inventors: Marcus L. Murphy, Douglas Gasal, Robert B. Duncan, H. Robert Tiffany
  • Publication number: 20020092093
    Abstract: A multi-angle hook fastened to an extension member, that is used to stop the extension from completely pulling out of the frame it sits in. When fully extended, the multi-angle hook allows at least three different holding positions, seen as three different angles that the extension sits at while using the multi-angle hook as its fixed point of pivot. The multi-angle hook is a metal, plastic, or wood plate bent along several parallel lines, across its width, at varying angles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2001
    Publication date: July 18, 2002
    Inventor: Joel Grossman
  • Patent number: 4939802
    Abstract: "SOFA-BED", comprising a basic structure (10) provided with a pair of upper rear supports (13); a back including a rear portion (20) and a front portion (30) articulated to each other, the rear portion (20) having its extreme lower edge articulated to the upper rear supports (13); a seat (40) having its rear edge articulated to the front extreme edge of the front portion of back (30) and having its front edge articulated to a footrest (50), seat (40) being supported on two pairs of rollers (41, 42) so as to be horizontally displaceable between a "sofa" and a "bed" condition, with the back portions and the footrest arranged horizontally and coplanar with seat (40). The rear portion of seat (20) may further assume different raised positions in respect of the horizontal, when the davenport is in the "bed" condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 1988
    Date of Patent: July 10, 1990
    Inventor: Percival Lafer
  • Patent number: 4737996
    Abstract: An improved seat-bed assembly providing a seat unit and a back frame support, both of which are interconnected by a controlled linkage that, coupled with a guided movement of the back frame support, will convert the assembly from a seat form to a full length bed. Pivotal withdrawal of the seat unit from the assembly will, through a drag link arrangement, pivot the back frame support through a guided path into a bed forming position with the now extended seat unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1988
    Assignee: Tiffany and Tiffany, Designers, Inc.
    Inventor: H. Robert Tiffany
  • Patent number: 4694514
    Abstract: A three-section convertible sofa mechanism installed in a convertible sofa. The convertible sofa has a pair of curved channels in which the head section of the sofa rides. As the mechanism is pulled outwardly from the sofa frame, the head section is guided upwardly and outwardly by the curved channels. Preferably, the movement of the mechanism in the channels is synchronized so that both sides are raised and lowered together. A retractable leg assembly is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 1986
    Date of Patent: September 22, 1987
    Inventor: Edward H. Crossett
  • Patent number: 4563037
    Abstract: A chair or couch is convertible into a bed by pivoting each of the seat portion and back portion about discrete horizontal axes extending between opposite sides of a frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 1983
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1986
    Assignee: Tiffany & Tiffany
    Inventor: H. Robert Tiffany